Osaka - Koyasan
What a a difference a day makes. Almost a pilgrimage to get there but after half a day of travel, we had left the neon lights of #Osaka behind to enjoy some time in a #Shikubo in #Koyasan.
This track seemed to run along a ridge. We were perched high above the roadways below and we had a bird's eye view of the gorges, rivers and towns below. Large tracts of bamboo forests and dense forest slopes marked our trail as we climbed increasingly higher. At the end of this final 2-hour trek, it was time to load into the cable car. This was a funicular line that has operated since 1930 and drags its passenger load up the approximately 800 metre length in 5 minutes! It's a steep one. Not done with the travel yet, it was necessary to board a bus to make our way along a very narrow and winding mountain road to finally reach our destination of #Koyasan.
#Koyasan has a population of about 3500 and supports 117 temples. 50 of these temples host visitors and are known as #Shukubo. Guests enjoy the kind hospitality of the monks, experiencing Buddhism first-hand.
#Koyasan is all about the monks. It was a solitary monk named @Kukai (Kobo Daishi) who established this place of worship around 816 AD high on a 900-metre plateau in the mountains, for the esoteric Buddhist sect of #Shingon.
Another "drop and go" - meant we left our backpacks with the monks and headed for a group lunch to refuel ready for our visit to the cemetery of #Okuno-in.
Over 200 000 souls have found their resting place here in what is #Japan's largest cemetery. A 2 km path wound its way through the grounds. Pillars, tombstones, monuments, five tiered stupas, all covered in layers of moss. They were towering in themselves but were then dwarfed by stands of giant cedar. Small statues, adorned with red caps and a red bibs marked offerings for lost children. Nooks and crannies and small baskets held the coin offerings of pilgrims who came to visit.
We strolled, stopping occasionally to learn a little of the person who had found their resting place here. Certainly, death is a great leveller, and this cemetery truly embodies the idea that once we pass to the next life, we are all equal - commoners, imperial families, poets, samurai and feudal lords all intermingled. In the modern section as we exited, corporations were represented - coffee companies, car manufacturers, electrical companies - all with big mausoleums one featuring a rocket!
The main goal was to reach the most sacred place of the #KoboDaishi Mausoleum. (no photos once you reach this scared of sacred spaces.) Upon @Kukai's death, his disciples erected his mausoleum beside the #Tama River. It is believed that @Kukai is still alive and rests in eternal meditation here offering prayers for all the people of the world.
Every day at 6 am and 10.30 am Buddhist monks carry food up to the hall as part of the ritualistic offering to @Kukai . With its 1200-year history, this ceremony has continued daily and can be viewed every day - no matter the conditions.
At the third and final bridge (#Gabyonohashi Bridge) before reaching the sacred area, a bridge made of 36 stone slabs needs to be crossed. Its entrance is marked by the normal cleansing station and each slab is inscribed on its underside and the names of the #Buddhas of the Diamond Realm are reflected in the water below.
Foot weary after our 4 hour stroll through the cemetery and without a bus in sight, we took a taxi back to the #Shukubu to be shown to our rooms. A little sparse would be an understatement. A clothes rack, a table, a TV and heater on the floor and a futon pile in the corner. That was it. A beautiful view into a garden, paper sliding windows and doors, an overhead light. A shared toilet across the hall. Two floors down, the public bath and shared washrooms and toilets. Everything we would have expected of a monk's lodgings.
Yes, we slept on tatami mats, topped with futons. Our rooms had sliding paper thin walls (yes, we could definitely hear our fellow guests), engaged in constant shoe changing, ate vegetarian food and swirled in the public bath.
A unique experience, without a doubt, and the sleeping on the floor thing was a tad tricky. The constant shoe changing was hard to keep up with and for carnivore @Mac, the food, although beautifully presented, had natural ingredients we had never encountered before.
We did solve the whole public bathing problem. Ladies were scheduled for an hour when hot water was available for their use, and group member @Mrs_A drew up a roster of 10-minute intervals for us to indulge. Glad I got a turn - (I was first actually) and really hoping there were no secret camera recordings because my mount and dismount of the bath steps was less than elegant! The stuff that nightmares are made of!
Anyway, bath and dinner completed, we found a comfortable nook and read for about an hour until the cold chased us to our room. Settled in as quietly as we could, and I offered a last prayer to the toilet gods. Needed all the help i could get - I knew that I would have to somehow find the torch, navigate the 3 sliding paper doors, the two shoe changes and the hallway (not to mention even getting up off the floor in the first place) to make my nightly toilet (let's hope it's only once) visit. Definitely didn't want to stain the tatami mats!
My last image from my futon before sleep caught me, was of @Mac, huddled in a corner, sitting on the floor on a cushion, looking decidedly uncomfortable. I bet he was scrolling through pictures of a thousand different cuts of meat!
Weather: much colder in the afternoon in the mountains at 16 degrees
Steps: 11 094
KEEP CALM THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
You really haven't changed in 70 years. Your body changes. You don't change at all. Doris Lessing
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